The analog-to-digital shift that has seen e-readers booting out books, smartphones trumping landlines and tablets making desktops look fuddy-duddy is also bringing new tech tools to the classroom. Last month, I read this New York Times article about CourseSmart, an app that allows teachers to track whether students have done their reading in digital textbooks, with interest. In the article, the dean of Texas A&M’s business school, which is testing out the technology, admitted it was “Big Brother, sort of, but with a good intent.” And while it did seem to undermine one of the main points of college — that reading and studying are self-motivated — it also seemed like a good way for students to be able to demonstrate to professors that, yes, they are paying attention, and for professors to get real data as to what material just isn’t clicking for their students.